Post a Totally Random Moment From Fashion History...

Karl living his best life in Japan in 1977 (special guest: Kenzo)



alamy
I have always been intrigued by their friendship. Karl, Sonia and Kenzo had quite a long friendship.
Their brand damage still needs time to repair esp in China. After the scandal their No.1 top selling store is Changsha, not Beijing not Shanghai. Where is Changsha? here is some data for reference.

2023 Jan-Jul

Beijing CN World Hermes store revenue is around 917 millions
Shanghai Plaza66 887 millions
Changsha IFS 364 millions
But you know what, from a pragmatic business pov, it’s maybe better because it makes them less dependent on that market.
 
I have always been intrigued by their friendship. Karl, Sonia and Kenzo had quite a long friendship.
Me too! It was very intriguing, I feel like they had fun.

I love these random photos of them all together in 1973 for a "designer's roundtable interview" for WWD (there are SO MANY fun, random fashion images on GettyImages now because of the WWD/Fairchild Archives btw). I must have the article somewhere... IN particular, I love teenage Nathalie Rykiel lounging around in the background looking bored as hell.

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gettyimages
 
This very, I guess, directional? proposal for menswear from Tom Ford for Gucci Fall Winter 2000. (Also one of the low points from his tenure in terms of the glamorization of female submission...)

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Me too! It was very intriguing, I feel like they had fun.

I love these random photos of them all together in 1973 for a "designer's roundtable interview" for WWD (there are SO MANY fun, random fashion images on GettyImages now because of the WWD/Fairchild Archives btw). I must have the article somewhere... IN particular, I love teenage Nathalie Rykiel lounging around in the background looking bored as hell.

I wonder if Mr Kenzo spoke fluent French there lol
 
-"couture clothes are too well made"...

Now I understand why Karl chose Virginie Viard as his successor...
 
Moving on from my usual suspects, today's feature is Valentino: "Cheeky Chic," Women's Wear Daily, October 19, 1978.

In 1978, the fragrance Valentino by Valentino was launched at a gala event, with a who's who of Parisian fashion attending and it sounded, well... you be the judge.



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Sounds great, right? Well... the cracks start to show.

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Lou Lou giggling at Valentino's big moment, Jacques de Bascher laying down in the middle of the aisle to "take a nap." "Other friends of Valentino also did not return telephone calls soliciting their comments on the evening."

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WWD Archives
 
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Karl opting to deliver flowers instead of attending the funeral for Yves Saint Laurent, or –so goes the other story– Pierre Bergé not inviting Karl to the funeral.

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Does anyone happen to know what the card said? This seems to be the only photograph online, and it only displays a partial message:

«... souvenir de nos ... de jeunesse » - Karl
 
«... souvenir de nos ... de jeunesse » - Karl

I think that's just it, I remember seeing a different photo of the flower arrangement somewhere. I don't think Karl was invited to Yves' funeral, can you imagine?!

Not to sound like an idiot savant, but I do recall there being passage from Karl's florist (sigh) in a biography about the flower arrangement Karl sent. From Karl by Marie Ottavi (2021) :

Original French:
Un parterre de fleurs blanches recouvre les marches de la chapelle. Un bouquet grandiose a été envoyé par Karl Lagerfeld, absent forcément. « Il a fait porter un très grand vase de style Médicis avec des roses et des orchidées blanches, témoigne Caroline Cnocquaert de Lachaume. Il a choisi lui-même les fleurs et a écrit un mot. Il m’a dit : “Mon ami Yves s’en est allé, je veux lui offrir quelque chose de somptueux. J’ai adoré cet homme, c’était mon ami, je me suis fâché avec lui à cause de Pierre Bergé.” »

English courtesy of Google Translate (lol) :
A grandiose bouquet was sent by Karl Lagerfeld, who was inevitably absent. "He had a very large Medici-style vase with roses and white orchids brought," says Caroline Cnocquaert de Lachaume. "He chose the flowers himself and wrote a note. He told me: 'My friend Yves has passed away, I want to give him something sumptuous. I loved this man, he was my friend, I fell out with him because of Pierre Bergé.'"

(If you wonder why I remember so much useless sh*t, well, I'm asking myself the same question).
 
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E
Karl opting to deliver flowers instead of attending the funeral for Yves Saint Laurent, or –so goes the other story– Pierre Bergé not inviting Karl to the funeral.

View attachment 1325285

Does anyone happen to know what the card said? This seems to be the only photograph online, and it only displays a partial message:

«... souvenir de nos ... de jeunesse » - Karl

Most probably:

"En sou/venir de nos jours /de jeunesse"

The missing plural must be short enough to fit under the missing "en sou-".

I found very touching what he said to the fleuriste: My friend Yves is gone... 😢
 
Karl opting to deliver flowers instead of attending the funeral for Yves Saint Laurent, or –so goes the other story– Pierre Bergé not inviting Karl to the funeral.

View attachment 1325285

Does anyone happen to know what the card said? This seems to be the only photograph online, and it only displays a partial message:

«... souvenir de nos ... de jeunesse » - Karl
I think since Prince Rainier, he hasn’t attended anyone’s funeral.
He didn’t attend Franca or Andre either.

I do wonder if he went to Ingrid Sichy’s one. She was his best friend and I remember him being very emotional on a French tv show when mentioning her.
 
I do wonder if he went to Ingrid Sichy’s one. She was his best friend and I remember him being very emotional on a French tv show when mentioning her.

He did, he even gave a eulogy. From Paradise Now by William Middleton:

In July 2015, just weeks after his hospitalization, Karl was finishing a short movie with Kristen Stewart and Geraldine Chaplin that would be premiered at that December’s Métiers d’Art show in Rome. He was in his trailer, waiting for the last scene to be filmed, when he was told that Ingrid Sischy was calling from New York. He said that he would call her back—it was getting late—but Sébastien Jondeau suggested that it seemed that it was important that they speak.

“I am calling you today because I have to leave in two days and I wanted to thank you for all of your friendship and love for the over 20 years that we have known each other,” Sischy told Karl.

“You may come back,” Karl replied.

“I may be gone within two days—there is very little hope.”

Karl had last seen Sischy in May, at the Cannes Film Festival. He noticed that she was very thin, and his first thought was that she was dieting. The look on Sandy Brant’s face, however, suggested that it was more serious.

Although the rest of their phone call was unclear in Karl’s memory, he realized that she was in too much pain, that speaking was difficult. He could hear Brant next to Sischy, crying. Two days after their conversation, on July 25, 2015, Ingrid Sischy, sixty-three years old, died of breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

“Karl just adored Ingrid,” said Éric Pfrunder, who was often with them for the photo sessions they did around the world. “It was interesting because she was someone who could respond to Karl intellectually and he loved that. She had a remarkable knowledge of culture and art. And to see them together was exciting because they were two cultural giants who, instead of clashing, had a dialogue.”

At the beginning of November, only five months after his own cancer diagnosis, a memorial was held for Sischy at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Some three hundred guests attended, including Sandy Brant, Anna Wintour, Miuccia Prada, Donatella Versace, Ralph Lauren, Brice Marden, Francesco Clemente, Julian Schnabel, Chuck Close, and Graydon Carter. There were performances by Elton John, Laurie Anderson, and K. D. Lang singing an emotional version of “Hallelujah.”

Wearing a black suit, white shirt, and wide black tie, Karl gave a eulogy for his friend. “I never do speeches—I only answer questions,” he began. “So, I had to write Ingrid a letter. For me, Ingrid is not dead—I never pronounce that word—she just left before us, is all.”

Karl stressed that he had been friends with Sischy for twenty-five years, and with Brant for forty-five years. He spoke of how they would have phone calls, usually on a Sunday, the three of them on the same line. “Hello, my angel,” was how Sischy would begin the conversation. “Certainly not the way most people see me, huh?” Karl said, to laughs.

As he described their last phone call, lifting up his glasses so that he could read the text, Karl choked up and starting crying. “That was the only time I ever saw Karl weep,” said Amanda Harlech. “Agony.”

Karl barely remembered how that last phone call with Sischy finished. After they hung up, he took some time to return to the set and the film they were shooting. “I had to get my face back together to face the crew and the actors for this little comedy,” he continued. “It was a scene when everyone was laughing and drinking champagne. We finished and I left quickly. Sébastien drove me back to Paris and the Quai Voltaire, where Choupette was waiting for me—I wanted to be alone, with only her silent but strong presence.”
 
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When Anna Jagodzinska revealed her paycheck!

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Source: messynessychic.wordpress.com
 

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